Nancy Shanks is an American singer who is almost exclusively associated with singer Tori Amos

Tori Amos

Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

. Nancy recorded her first solo album in 1973 on United Artist Records. She recorded her second album in 1988 in England on EMI Records with Rhett Davis and upon her return to America met Tori Amos as Tori was signing her first record deal with Atlantic Records in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. They became fast friends and supported each others artistic endeavours, as well as appearing together on a number of projects as backing vocalists, including the album Phantom Center

Phantom center

Phantom center refers to the way human ears detect the location of a sound; straight ahead, above, or behind the head. Since humans have one ear on each side of the head, sound in aforementioned locations creates an equal sensation in each ear. Thus, based only on hearing, the sound can be...

by Ferron

Ferron

Ferron, born Debby Foisy on , is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier...

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When Amos' solo career took off Shanks sang backing vocals on several of her albums, such as Little Earthquakes

Little Earthquakes

-B-sides:The album is also known for its collection of B-sides. The four songs recorded with Davitt Sigerson that did not make it to the final version of the album were included on the singles released from Little Earthquakes....

and Boys for Pele

Boys for Pele

Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on 22 January 1996, in the United Kingdom and on 23 January, in the United States...

and continued to occasionally contribute to Amos' projects. She is better known by the nickname "Beenie", and is thanked in the liner notes of many of Amos' recordings. Amos also mentions her in the song "Father Lucifer" on the album Boys For Pele

Boys for Pele

Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on 22 January 1996, in the United Kingdom and on 23 January, in the United States...

("Beenie lost the sunset, but that's okay"). Amos has attributed stories of Shanks as an inspiration for several songs Amos has written.

Shanks also performed the song "Trials of the Heart" on the soundtrack for the film About Last Night..., and duetted with Danny Peck on the song "I Burn For You" on the soundtrack for the film The Secret of My Success

The Secret of My Success

The Secret of My Success is a 1965 British comedy film from American writer-director Andrew L...

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